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President Obama: I realize that resorting to force may be tempting in the face of the rhetoric and behavior that emanates from parts of Iran. It is offensive. It is incendiary. We do take it seriously. But superpowers should not act impulsively in response to talks… Just because Iranian hardliners chant ‘Death to America” does not mean that that’s what all Iranians believe. In fact, it’s those hardliners that are more satisfied with the status quo. It’s those hardliners chanting “death to America” who’ve been most opposed to the deal. They’re making common cause with the Republican Caucus.

Many headlines over the weekend were dedicated to a CNN/ORC poll showing Donald Trump leading the Republican pack in the race for the GOP presidential nomination and Hillary Clinton maintaining real but shrinking leads against all of the top Republican contenders. One detail, however, got less attention than it perhaps deserved. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, currently Clinton’s most viable rival for the Democratic nomination, wins in head-to-head competitions against all three Republican frontrunners. Among all respondents to the poll, Sanders, a self-described socialist who has been running to Clinton’s left, beats former Florida governor Jeb Bush 48 percent to 47....

Now that we know who will be in on both debates, let's keep an eye out and discuss the various possibilities and then watch the debates. Feel free to talk about anything debate-related and please consider donating to the FReepathon as generously as you can. Anyone who comes up with debate information, please keep us updated.

Most of the Republicans attacking Donald Trump are missing the real significance of the Donald and his popularity. A lot of Republicans and independents don’t like establishment Republicans. They see them as an entitled elite that talks big but then compromises their principles in order to serve the interests of big business and to get along with their fellow social elites in the other party. They look at a Republican Congress’s record so far and see very little legislative pushback against an arrogant, lawless Progressive administration under which the federal Leviathan has waxed ever fatter and more intrusive.

If you had to vote in your state primary/caucus today, knowing what you know now about the various declared and probable candidates, who would you vote for? Why? Who would you like to see as the running mate for your preferred candidate? If you could help staff your candidates cabinet and other top appointments, who would you choose? If you could recommend different congressional leaders than we have now, who would they be? And who would you like to see on the Supreme Court and why? And finally, feel free to donate to Free Republic.

Because you've seen enough, heard enough and had enough. We believe in the Constitution. The fundamentals of freedom and liberty for ALL including LGBT citizens. And we espouse conservative values and support limited government. We are not about a candidate, but a set of principles. We may not agree on every line item. but we all fundamentally agree, that enough is enough. Our group is about networking, particiating in supportive causes and social acitivities for the like minded.

Like Jonathan S. Tobin at Commentary, I have little doubt that TrumpMania will soon fade away. There has always been a willingness among a part of the electorate to get behind an angry outsider, but when push comes to shove, even those voters opt for a candidate they can trust. Trump simply isn’t that guy. Tobin’s third argument, which I consider to be the most important one, is as follows: "Third, the assumption on the part of some that a public that has been watching Trump on TV for years already knows all it cares to learn about the man...

We have passed the point where Nazi comparisons are inappropriate. In the latest video about Planned Parenthood, if you want to watch it, you will see an admission that some of the children are born alive before being killed and carved up — their bodies being sold essentially for scrap. These are children. They entered into the world alive and were killed, chopped up, and sold bit by bit. “It’s a boy,” one person commented in the latest film. They talk about the commoditization of children’s eyeballs (the ones in the video were not developed enough), hearts that turn to...

This is fodder for WSJ columnist James Taranto's "everything is seemingly spinning out of control" file. Howard Dean has declared that we'll have to be "more humble" about Donald Trump's prospects and that he will "have to stop making fun" of him for now. What's got Dean doing a 180 on Trump? Not just the latest polls, which include one showing Trump trouncing Jeb and Rubio in their home state of Florida. Above all, it was the experience of viewing, on today's Morning Joe, a stunning focus group of New Hampshire Republicans who were uniformly and enthusiastically pro-Trump, saying things...

Quinnipiac University will unveil a new poll early Thursday morning and new polls from NBC News/Wall Street Journal and Monmouth University will be released between now and next Tuesday — the cutoff date for inclusion in the national polling average that will determine who makes the stage. It’s also likely that Fox News will have a new poll between now and the Tuesday afternoon cutoff. The network’s most recent poll was conducted in mid-July, and the expectation is that the polling average that Fox uses will include one of its own surveys. A representative for the network did not respond...

For Republicans eager to cast The Donald out of the GOP presidential primary, a warning: The only thing more difficult than a Trump in the race, may be a Trump who's no longer in the race. The apoplexy over how much damage Trump is doing to the party brand—and its eventual non-Trump nominee—in his present role as a recalcitrant, incendiary, front-running candidate, may well be trumped (if you will) by the fulminations and machinations of an ex-candidate. It would be one thing if Trump went graciously and serenely into surrogacy, whenever that moment came, giving a no-strings-attached endorsement to the...

For anyone hoping that the next president will get serious about reducing the size and cost of government, the early days of the campaign have been disappointing, to say the least. The Democrats, of course, have been campaigning as if Greece were a model rather than a warning. But what else can one expect from a party that has moved to the left of Barack Obama? The real disappointment has come from Republicans who seem intent on returning to the big-spending ways of the George W. Bush administration. Start with the candidate of the moment, Donald Trump. Trump has made...

Later this week, the highway trust fund officially runs out of money unless Congress authorizes more funding for roads and bridges. But the bill that is being pushed by Democrats and some Republicans is starting to look like a Republican Party Dunkirk that could infuriate conservative voters and even wind up costing the GOP the 2016 election. The $320 billion six year public works funding bill would raise government spending, increase taxes on businesses and possibly provide a new lease on life for the corporate welfare queen -- the Export-Import Bank. This happens every time a highway bill comes up...

President Obama on Monday denounced the frequently combative tone of the crowded race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, saying "the American people deserve better" and calling out Donald Trump specifically. Hours later, Trump fired back. "He's probably the worst president in the history of our country," the billionaire businessman said during an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News. *snip* "In 18 months, I'm turning over the keys," Obama continued. "I want to make sure I'm turning over the keys to somebody who's serious about the serious problems the country faces and the world faces. And that requires on...

This should answer the question of why Donald Trump resonates with the Republican base. Despite having criticized Mitt Romney for being too hardline on immigration in 2012, Trump has until very recently embraced the hardline positions — and those turn out to be very popular among GOP voters. A new poll from CNN shows that normalizing the illegals who have been living here gets 55% support from the general public, but 64% of Republicans prefer deportation: The poll also finds Trump’s positions on immigration are at odds with those of most Americans, but may be providing him a boost in...

In other words..., Trump is the Republicans ONLY HOPE for the White House. If the Establishment Republicans along with their cohorts in the media destroy him, then Trump will be become more powerful. It will split the Republican vote that put in all the Republicans in 2014. The end result will be either be Hillary or Trump victory in 2016. I see the Establishment candidates Jeb and Walker as nothing more than McCain and Romney fall guys to Hillary. Agree or Disagree?

Casey Stengel, when he first began coaching the Mets, and they were losing big, said: “You look up and down the bench and you have to say to yourself, can’t anybody here play this game?” That’s what I want to say to the Republican bench as they face the Trump phenomenon. Based on current polls Trump would lose the general election if he got the nomination because his negatives are sky high. Yet polls tell us he’s the most popular candidate with the base of the Republican party. And the reason is blazingly obvious: he’s not afraid to embrace politically...

Most Republican voters want Donald Trump to remain in the race for president, and he's the candidate GOP voters are most likely to say they want to see on the debate stage, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll. Trump, whose campaign for the presidency has come to dominate much of the news coverage of the Republican presidential field since he formally announced his candidacy in mid-June, remains a person Republican voters want to see more of, and a sizable 22% say they think he'll eventually win the party's nomination for president -- second only to Jeb Bush. Among Republicans and...

Donald Trump was supposed to flame out fast. Instead, he's burning ever hotter in the first contests of the 2016 Republican presidential primary. The real estate mogul and reality TV star has a seven-point lead over his nearest competitor in New Hampshire, and he's breathing down the neck of longtime Iowa caucuses leader Scott Walker, according to two NBC-Marist University polls released Sunday morning. It's still very early in the 2016 campaign, and the first Republican debate on Aug. 6 in Cleveland could shake up the race, but Trump's surprising success suggests he will continue to be a significant force...

Former presidential candidate John McCain has some debate advice for the GOP candidates sparring with Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump: Stick to your message. "Answer the questions," Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said in a moderated discussion Saturday at the Aspen Institute. "Do not ... not so much ignore something like a direct attack, you don't want to totally ignore him, but get your message out," he said. Trump, who leads the crowded Republican field in several recent polls, recently said the Arizona senator, a former prisoner-of-war in Vietnam, was only considered a hero because he was captured. Trump has also...